Backup failed once, can't get it to work again.
The other day, my external USB drive was removed and the overnight backup consequently failed. It had been working fine for months. The backup is a differential backup - a full followed by 2 differentials, etc.
As I said, this had been working ok.
After it failed, I attempted to recover some files from the full backup which had been made a few days earlier. No luck. Basically if a backup fails, it seems impossible to recover anything, even from previous successful backups. Fine - this is disappointing but whatever.
In an attempt to get the backup process working again, I deleted the full and differential files. I have plenty of disk space and have no space issues. Then I tried starting up the backup. It failed again. It was looking for a previous file which I had deleted. I tried to delete the backup files from within the Acronis application, but there seems to be no way to do that. I've had this problem before and remembered it gets very upset if you delete backups in the file system. I think there is something else you have to do to delete backup files but it is not obvious.
So I figured I'd re-create a brand new backup. I deleted the backup from the Backup and recovery tab. I even rebooted. Then I created a new backup from scratch with a new name. Alas, this too failed.
Failed to open backup G:\My backups\Diff backup\Diff backup_diff_b31_s3_v1.tib. Make sure the backup location is accessible and contains all versions of the backup. This backup may also be corrupted.
I don't understand it. The new backup is named Diff backup V2 but it is looking for the old deleted backup files. Perhaps because I created the V2 backup by cloning the original one which I then deleted? Maybe cloning does not work properly? You'd think that cloning, editing, saving would work, but I guess not. Why even supply a cloning function if it doesn't work right?
Or do I totally need to uninstall True Image and reinstall it? What will ever get my backups going again?
(This product is so finicky and counter intuitive to use. I have had so many problems using it. I really wish there was a better option on the market.)
[quote=Bob B]The other day, my external USB drive was removed and the overnight backup consequently failed. It had been working fine for months. The backup is a differential backup - a full followed by 2 differentials, etc.
As I said, this had been working ok.
After it failed, I attempted to recover some files from the full backup which had been made a few days earlier. No luck. Basically if a backup fails, it seems impossible to recover anything, even from previous successful backups. Fine - this is disappointing but whatever.
In an attempt to get the backup process working again, I deleted the full and differential files. I have plenty of disk space and have no space issues. Then I tried starting up the backup. It failed again. It was looking for a previous file which I had deleted. I tried to delete the backup files from within the Acronis application, but there seems to be no way to do that. I've had this problem before and remembered it gets very upset if you delete backups in the file system. I think there is something else you have to do to delete backup files but it is not obvious.
So I figured I'd re-create a brand new backup. I deleted the backup from the Backup and recovery tab. I even rebooted. Then I created a new backup from scratch with a new name. Alas, this too failed.
Failed to open backup G:\My backups\Diff backup\Diff backup_diff_b31_s3_v1.tib. Make sure the backup location is accessible and contains all versions of the backup. This backup may also be corrupted.
I don't understand it. The new backup is named Diff backup V2 but it is looking for the old deleted backup files. Perhaps because I created the V2 backup by cloning the original one which I then deleted? Maybe cloning does not work properly? You'd think that cloning, editing, saving would work, but I guess not. Why even supply a cloning function if it doesn't work right?
Or do I totally need to uninstall True Image and reinstall it? What will ever get my backups going again?
(This product is so finicky and counter intuitive to use. I have had so many problems using it. I really wish there was a better option on the market.)[quote]
Well I have used this program since 2010, Yet I have the very same problem as your self, I also agree with the statement: I TRULY WISH THERE WAS ANOTHER PRODUCT THAT WOULD WORK OTHER THAN ACRONIS! I HAVE FILLED SO MANY DETAILED REPORTS YET THEY JUST DO NOT CARE! I have even previously had them come into my computer to set True Image 2014 last year in December they even had a problem setting their own program up.
I am very restricted as I am in a wheelchair my PC that was new in September 2012, I am 70 in a months time used computer since 1979, when I put the error into where they ask it keeps trying to change my error number.
So how on earth can they solve any problem if they do not know or accept their own program's error numbers.
Another Disgusted user. WE NEED HELP NOT TRYING TO BLAME OUR COMPUTERS Especially when they had a problem when I upgraded in December 2013, and they came into my PC with my Acceptance to get it up & working, What chance does the normal user have= NONE.
There's nothing wrong with the external drive. It has been working fine for months with Acronis. The other day I ejected it to mount on another laptop and did not reattach it to the Acronis laptop the same day. The backup that night failed. Fine. Then I reattached it and I can't get Acronis to work again.
The drive is connected to the laptop directly via USB3. It works fine.
I created a brand new backup task (cloning obviously has issues) from scratch and it still failed looking for one of the diff files from the old deleted backup task.
It's sad that one failure apparently dooms any further backups. And it rendered my older backup files useless too.
It is a very unforgiving program. So I have to delete EVERYTHING if one error occurs? Crazy.
Where is this database I have to delete? And why does the user have to do that anyway?
It's sad that one failure apparently dooms any further backups. And it rendered my older backup files useless too.
It is a very unforgiving program. So I have to delete EVERYTHING if one error occurs? Crazy.
That is not normally the case. One of my users backs up on a schedule to an external drive. Occasionally he forgets to attach the drive in time, so of course that particular backup fails. His subsequent scheduled backups continue to work as expected. There is likely some complicating factor in your case.
I found an xml file which apparently is the "database" and removed it. I then deleted ALL the configured backups using the GUI
and all the backup files manually using Explorer.
I created a brand new folder on the external device. I ran chkdsk on the drive. I rebooted, just to be safe. Then I configured a new backup. It ran!! I have a backup.
I don't understand what is so unusual about my situation - a simple 4tb usb3 drive plugged in directly to the laptop. If unplugging it and missing a scheduled backup messes up True Image that is a TI problem. Your user friend must be very lucky.
The problem seems to be that TI started up that night, couldn't find the usb drive and couldn't create the backup (of course). It apparently wrote an entry to the "database" for a differential file which it never created. It sounds like a program issue to me.
For kicks, I even tried to recover a file from the Full backup made 3 days earlier. Because one file is missing in the series (the last one it couldn't create), it wouldn't even let me recover from the full backup. So if something goes wrong, it is unlikely I could recover using TI. Not very reassuring for a backup tool.
I have the exact same issue, tho I use Version Chain. "Failed to open backup F:\My backups\RJ_Backup_diff_b7_s5_v1.tib. Make sure the backup location is accessible and contains all versions of the backup. This backup may also be corrupted." In my case the backup *is actually there*. Since moving to a larger Passport drive five months ago, and continuing on with the same backup schedule I'd been using for some years, the program keeps looking for older, higher-numbered versions that are on a different drive (that's now full).
I can access all my previous backups (failed or not) and restore files via Windows Explorer. I just drag the files from the Backup onto the Desktop (or wherever). I've actually never tried a Restore through the Acronis UI!
What I'd like to find out is how to stop the error (of looking for these older versions) from occurring in the first place. The knowledge base has nothing for me on this problem.
Any clues would be greatfully accepted.
Delete the current backup task. Create a brand new backup task with your desired options, pointing to the new Passport HD.
Thanks, tuttle. I tried that when I first swapped drives and it worked. Four months later, and after running reasonably smoothly, it's started this error business. By "reasonably smoothly" I mean it simply doesn't back up some days, and other days there are errors but the backup seems ok but disappears by the following week, or there are errors, or it runs sweetly. Quite a moody little application if you ask me :-) I don't have mission-critical data, so it's good enough for me, really. I'm just trying to save myself some bother if I need to get a new computer.
Do the developers ever act on any of these issues?
Thanks again.
I have not seen such behaviour on any of the PCs I backup. Such intermittent failures are often the result of hardware issues.
Don't connect the Passport drive via a hub, a port in a monitor, a USB extension cord, etc. Connect the external drive directly to a USB port on the rear of the computer case.
I have an all-in-one HP Omni, so I plug the Passport drive directly into the monitor. No hub, no nothing. I think this has to do with the internal numbering system the app uses. I'll see what happens when it gets beyond the numbering on the old drive. Or maybe it's just reached that point and is therefore creating errors. I need to look at it more closely. If I can find a pattern, I'll post it to this thread. Thanks for your comments!
I think this has to do with the internal numbering system the app uses. I'll see what happens when it gets beyond the numbering on the old drive.
Not sure I know what you mean.
When moving to a new drive, you should create a brand new backup task. Also, when backing up to external drives, you should assign a fixed drive letter to your external drive, high in the alphabet (e.g. V) to avoid its letter changing.
Yep, drive letter fixed, as posted above: "Failed to open backup F:\My backups\RJ_Backup_diff_b7_s5_v1.tib." New backup set created, as stated above. The numbering I'm talking about is the "b7_s5_v1..." series. It's as if it's remembering something from the previous backup set. Not sure, but I'll see if I can determine a pattern.
As I mentioned earlier, you might want to try to find the "database" and delete that. Delete all your backups. Delete all your tasks. Re-create the backup task and it might work again. Recovering anything from these backups is difficult at best anyway, so it is no loss to delete them. The best solution is to backup anything truly valuable manually yourself or with another product.
Do not rely on this product to be your first line of defense. It is simply too flaky and unreliable. You may luck out in the event of a disaster, but more likely this will not help you.
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All my backups work fine in Windows Explorer, so that's not a problem. Where did you find the "datsbase" file, Bob? Just out of curiosity... If it's an xml file, I'd like to look at the entries to test my theory about automatic numbering :-)
In C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Database archives.xml
Just to be safe, I renamed it, not deleted it.
I am able to doubleclick open "full" backup files, but the "diff" ones tell me they are corrupted
although the log doesn't show that there were any error creating them.
There is no obvious way within Acronis to open backup files that I can see. The ways I've
tried all failed. I don't understand how you'd ever recover a differential backup.
I'm very disappointed in this product.
Thanks, Bob. I'll have a look in that location. To open any .tib file, just double-click it in Windows Explorer (File Manager of old), outside of the Acronis application. It's just another directory on your removable drive. All the files are there, safe and sound.